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Abstract
In the 1970s, small gas turbine engines were thought to be the most promising way to reach the goal of high efficiency, multi-fuel, low pollution engines. Small GT engines as they existed then were not very efficient. The most direct and lowest cost way to boost the efficiency was to run them at very high temperatures without cooling. Ceramics became the only option for sustained operation. Research work demonstrated that many engines or engine test rigs proved that advanced ceramics could function as structural components in engines. The use of structural ceramics in commercial engines began in Japan in the early 1980s. The most dramatic achievement has been the turbocharger rotor. The use of ceramics in reciprocating engines in the US has taken quite a different tack than in Japan. Virtually all use of ceramics in reciprocating engines in the US is driven by the need to control the emissions of heavy-duty diesels.